Samsung Galaxy S24 range goes big on AI: how useful is it really?
Samsung's coveted Galaxy S24 flagship phone series has been announced with new camera features, an upgraded processor and more recycled materials. But perhaps the most interesting upgrades come from its numerous AI features.
Samsung's AI gambit is focused on making your life easier, improving your communication, saving time, and making photography far more versatile.
We explore the abilities - and potential limitations - of Samsung's built-in AI and the other upgrades below.
Want to see which smartphones aced our tests? Check out our best smartphones for 2024.
Samsung Galaxy S24 key details: price, launch date and security
Samsung's latest range has an air of familiarity about it with the release of three phones; the standard Samsung Galaxy S24, the big-screened Samsung Galaxy S24+, and the highest-spec Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. See the main specifications below.
| Samsung Galaxy S24 | Samsung Galaxy S24+ | Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra | |
| Screen | 6.2-inch FHD+, 120Hz | 6.7-inch QHD+, 120Hz | 6.8-inch QHD+, 120Hz |
| Cameras | 12Mp ultra-wide, 50Mp wide, 10Mp telephoto, 12Mp front camera | 12Mp ultra-wide, 50Mp wide, 10Mp telephoto, 12Mp front camera | 12Mp ultra-wide, 200Mp wide, 50Mp + 10Mp telephoto, 12Mp front camera |
| Internal storage | 128GB - 256GB | 256GB - 512GB | 256GB - 1TB |
| Accessories | - | - | S-pen |
| Prices | £799 - £859 | £999 - £1,099 | £1,249 - £1,549 |
The design of the phones has only changed slightly from the S23 range, with Samsung abandoning the curved look for its screens and backings, but there are exciting developments. One of our favourites is Samsung's pledge to increase how long they will support the new range for. In late 2023, Google announced seven years of security and software updates for its latest flagship Pixel 8 phones and Samsung has followed suit. It's upping its five years of support on the S23 series to seven years for the S24 series. This means you can keep your phone for much longer, which helps both your pocket and to shop for tech more sustainably.
We'll be testing the Samsung Galaxy S24 phones as soon as they're released. You can pre-order the range from 17 January and they will become available on 31 January 2024.
Find out about the importance of security updates in smartphones.
Samsung Galaxy S24 goes big on AI
Samsung is terribly excited about how new AI developments will revolutionise the way we use our phones – here are the highlights.
Live language translation
A lot of the AI features introduced in Samsung's Galaxy S24 series are to help make communication easier and help its users get over language barriers. Live Translate does what it says on the tin, claiming to translate your voice in real-time when you're on the phone. This means the person at the other end of the phone hears your speech in another language. It can also translate voice into text and with Interpreter, your screen will split in two and you can read this text while on the call. The feature currently works with 13 languages, and Samsung says because it's powered by AI on the device rather than a third-party app, it keeps your conversations private.
If Live Translate is a feature you don't think you'd use often, one that is likely to have more appeal is Chat Assist. This feature takes a piece of text and re-words it to change its tone. For example, if you've written a quick text, you could ask Chat Assist to change this to the format of a formal email in seconds.
It's worth bearing in mind that Samsung does not make any guarantees on the accuracy of the output provided by its AI features, so you may want to proofread Chat Assist changes before sending that important email. And for a lot of these features, you need an internet connection for them to work.
New AI camera tricks
AI in smartphone cameras isn't new, but there are some intriguing upgrades here. In the Galaxy S24 series, AI tools will assist the already high-resolution cameras in a system called the ProVisual Engine. This includes being able to zoom digitally up to 100x, where pictures - Samsung claims - come out 'crystal clear', and AI will help night-time shots look crisper and brighter by capturing more light.
Some of the most useful AI assistance happens after you've taken your shots. You can erase objects - such as people in the background - and remaster photos. If your picture is wonky, AI can fill in the gaps, as well as generate bits of a background and blend it to make it fit into a picture naturally. Professional-looking photos are meant to be easier to create with one-click editing features like 'erase shadows' and 'erase reflections'.
If you like uploading your pictures on social media, Samsung has told us that the S24 allows you to upload more lifelike pictures in terms of their brightness, colour and contrast. This should work as long as its a social media app that supports Super HDR, such as Instagram or Snapchat.
However, when AI is used on a Galaxy S24 to amplify an image, a watermark will appear on the image. This suggests Samsung might be nervous (like a lot of companies are) about the consequences of AI-edited images. But if you're sharing your pictures with friends and family, it's a shame that stamp will be obscuring your creations.
AI in the car
Android Auto can summarise any incoming messages and give suggested replies when driving, intended to allow you to stay in touch while remaining focused on the road.
AI-driven note taking
Note Assist in Samsung uses AI to generate summaries of text, hopefully saving you time where you would usually have to read for a lot longer. Transcript Assist will do the same with voice recordings, and it can even translate these into other languages.
AI-driven search
Samsung was particularly excited about Circle to search – a partnership with Google to help make searching for things on the web easier and quicker. If you spot something within an app, image, video or social media account - whether its a word or an image - a long press on the home button allows you to highlight and search for it without having to leave the app you're in. Time will tell how accurate and practical it'll be and we're a bit on the fence as to whether it's a gimmick or a game-changer.
As you'd expect, Samsung has assured that Galaxy S24 users will have full control over how much they allow their data to be processed by the AI features.
New to AI? Read our guide to ChatGPT, and find out what happened when we put AI chatbots to the test.
Samsung S24 handsets: other cutting edge specs
Putting AI to one side – if you're after a flagship Samsung phone, it's likely that you expect a lot from it on the hardware front. Whether its gaming, editing videos or just running lots of apps at once, Samsung's new processor promises NPU improvements to handle all of this, plus the new AI. Software improvements also claim to improve its gaming power and visuals.
Samsung announced that the S24 screens are the brightest Galaxy displays ever, with an astronomically high 2,600 nits peak brightness. It also claims to be more robust against every day scratches than before. For the most-advanced S24 Ultra, this is combined with a durable titanium frame and Corning Gorilla Glass Armour on the screen to reduce glare by 75%.
From our vast experience reviewing smartphones, we know a powerful screen and processor can drain the battery life. Samsung has incorporated some features to help counteract this; for example, the refresh rate on-screen for S24 and S24+ can drop to 1Hz from 120Hz.
Our reviews of the Samsung Galaxy S24 series are coming soon. Head to our smartphone reviews now to find out which other phones delivered in our rigorous testing.
Sustainability on the S24
Samsung has made sustainability pledges with the materials used in its S24 series. For the first time, the phones will contain recycled cobalt and 'rare earth' elements. The amount of recycled materials used varies depending on the device, with some being more promising than others. In Galaxy S24 Ultra, a minimum of 50% recycled cobalt is used in the battery, for the standard S24, its just 10%.
These initiatives taken by Samsung are steps in the right direction, but keeping your tech devices for longer is still the best way to help reduce the environmental impact of e-waste.
If you're getting rid of your old phone, find out how to recycle it and get some extra cash for it.
Should you buy a Samsung Galaxy S24?
The innovation in the Samsung S24 series will no doubt tempt AI and photography enthusiasts to part with their hard earned cash, especially when you factor in that lengthy update support. But these devices are not cheap, and unless you're going to utilise these features that are often quite niche, it might not be worth it.
Last year's Samsung Galaxy S23 range had a rich range of features, versatile camera specs and an impressive processor. The range remains one of the best on the market and with the release of the S24 series, expect prices to drop. Find out all the details and where to buy these powerhouse phones in our reviews, and check our pick of the best mobile phone deals to weigh up your options.
Samsung don't just specialise in expensive phones and they release much cheaper handsets through the year. We put these phones through their paces at the lab test to find out if you can get a lot for a lot less. We recently tested one of its cheapest: the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G (£219). Find out all about it in Is the Samsung Galaxy A14 the best budget smartphone?
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